Man's 911 call after knife death is disputed

A Tempe man accused of fatally stabbing a bouncer last month outside Martini Ranch in Scottsdale was the first to call 911, but police say other witnesses and his own girlfriend contradict his version of events.

Just after 1 a.m. on Jan. 27, amid chaotic fighting at the downtown nightclub, Ian MacDonald, 26, called 911. The man charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyrice Thompson, 27, didn’t tell the operator that Thompson had been stabbed six to nine times and was lying bleeding on the ground, according to 911 tapes released Wednesday.

Instead, he said the bouncer stabbed MacDonald’s girlfriend and ran away, the tapes show.

“I need to talk to you,” a man identified as MacDonald urgently told a 911 operator. “I’m in Scottsdale at Martini Ranch. My girlfriend just got stabbed by one of the bouncers.”

“Where is the bouncer?” the operator asked.

“He just ran away, like sprinted away, with, like, two other bouncers,” he said. The sounds of a female sobbing can be heard on the 911 tape.

But MacDonald’s girlfriend never told him she was stabbed, according to a direct complaint released Wednesday by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. And other witnesses said Thompson was staggering, not sprinting, after he and McDonald scuffled on the ground, the complaint says.

Thompson fell to the ground, lost consciousness and died a week later at Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center without ever identifying his attacker, according to the complaint.

Police suspect MacDonald of killing Thompson that night after MacDonald and girlfriend Stephanie King, 22, were kicked out of the club.

MacDonald typically carries a knife clipped to his right front pants pocket, but he claimed he had not worn one that night, according to the complaint.

His friends told investigators that he admitted stabbing Thompson and disposing of the knife. The weapon has not been located, but Scottsdale police said they believe it was tossed into a dumpster in Mesa.

Acquaintances told officials that MacDonald doused the knife with bleach before throwing it away, the complaint says.

"Help, my girlfriend's been stabbed!" would be expected. He did not ask for help and it was important to him to make it clear that it was a bouncer who was at fault. He goes on to implicate 2 more bouncers, making it 3 bouncers at fault.